A Lady's Destiny
by Lilith Ha
Summary: My family is dead. I know who has killed them. But I'm too young to fight him. Yet. But I can wait. I will train hard, I will become a Lady Knight and I will face my destiny. Nobody else has the power I have. Nobody else is able to stop him.
1. Invasion

**Disclaimer****: Ok folks, everything here is Tamora Pierce's propriety, except my own characters. I only say this once in this fic: I do not own anything. Got it?**

Ok, here is the first part of the new version of 'A Lady's Destiny'. I'm really busy at the moment, but I try to work on it as much as possible. Please tell me what you think about the changes and if it's better or worse…

Chapter 01:   **Invasion**

"I can't believe it." Lady Alanna looked at the letters she was actually reading, an expression of complete disbelief on her face. "This must be a joke or something like that." She looked at King Jonathan. He was just as confused as his Lioness; he just hid it better beneath a calm face that oozed royalty.

"No joke. The letters are authentic." Jon sighed; his eyes were calm and serious. "I can't explain it myself." He hadn't expected that to happen, and he didn't like things which came out of the blue. After all he had spent a lifetime watching and studying the nobles in his country, he needed to know what they were planning before they themselves did. It unsettled him that he couldn't find a reason for this new development.

"It's an invasion!" The Lioness had finally managed to tear her eyes away from the letter shaking her head in utter disbelief.

"You're exaggerating."  Jon suppressed a chuckle. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one who felt confused.

"Jon! After years of telling Kel and I that we are the most unnatural human beings on earth, three of the most conservative noble families are sending their daughters to the palace. Not to marry. To become knights! How would you term this different than an invasion?" Alanna looked at the letter again, as if it would change its contents any moment. "I can't understand the world anymore. How long was I gone exactly? Last time I checked these people were the last to ever even _think about the idea of women fighting."_

Now Jon really started to grin. "I thought you would be proud. It seems that Lady Knights are now accepted, even by conservatives. This year _five_ young ladies are travelling to Corus, to follow _your footsteps. Be proud Lioness, you've got what you wanted to achieve."_

Alanna looked doubtfully at her king. "Do you really think they are coming here to follow my footsteps? Maybe that's what the girls want, but … what about their parents? Why did they give the permission to them? Why don't they send them to convent without discussion? That would be the normal procedure. And don't give me that times-have-changed nonsense, because these people live still in the past century, and you know it."

"I don't know. They didn't explain themselves to me. They don't have to, you know. It wouldn't be an equal treatment if the parents of female pages had to explain their reasons the others don't have to."

"Wait a minute! You said I've achieved what I wanted. What about the probation?" Alanna stared at Jon, wariness gleaming in her eyes.

Jon sighed deeply. Please, not again. "I will have to talk to Lord Padraig. But I think he would get huge problems with the girls' families if he insists on the probation. But _please, Alanna, at least __try to understand that it isn't completely up to me. Last time we had this discussion I hardly ever saw you for years!"_

The Lioness just frowned deeply and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a stance that clearly said: Don't get on the wrong side of my temper, you'll regret it!

Lord Padraig haMinch started to hate his job. Today was the day the new pages arrived. Today the girls would arrive. He had already met four of them. Three might be a problem.

First, there were the sisters Aidan and Ariadne of Crystal Lake. They had arrived with their brother Aaron. The three were triplets, veeery active triplets, unable to sit still one single minute. Wearing the same clothes and having the same haircut, nobody would be able to distinguish them.

Then there was Berenice of Gohman. She didn't look happy becoming a knight. Not. At. All. That made life much harder for him. The girl's mother was a bit ... difficult. When he had tried to explain to the girl the difficulties knighthood, Lady Damaris nearly throttled him. 'How could he dare to frighten her daughter!' His problem was that he was related to Lady Damaris. They were quite close relatives. It could happen that his aunt, the family dragon, would join in the debate. That could become … ugly, for him! _'Those bloody relatives!'_

At least the last girl seemed quite normal ... for a young lady who wants to be knighted. Corvina of Kourell was calm, obedient and willing to learn, or at least she appeared that way. But she still was a girl.

Lord Padraig buried his head in his hands. _'Oh gods! What have I done to deserve this?'_

Suddenly somebody was knocking on the door. Lord haMinch head shot up. "Come in!"

A servant entered. "Lord Victor of Pinehollow and his niece, Lady Samira of Pinehollow."

Immediately a man in his mid- fifties entered the room. He was an impressing person. Tall, grey hair, almost yellow eyes and a sharp edged face made him look like a hawk. A hungry hawk. Lord Padraig couldn't prevent gulping.

After the man a girl entered the room. At the first it was rather difficult to believe that these two were really related. The older man was a hard and severe warrior, known in Tortall for his absolute loyalty to the royal house, his strict yet fair rule of his fief … and his lack of a male heir. The fact that he had chosen his niece as his heiress, after her return from abroad, had caused uproar in the whole country. And the fact that he expected her to become a Lady Knight left all the other conservatives, whose most fierce comrade he had been for quite some time, confused and deeply shocked.

Were her uncle was rough and slightly bony built, she seemed to be soft and delicate. She was of slender built and pale golden complexion. Short blond hair, that seemed soft and silky, a delicately shaped face with soft full lips, a small nose and what had to be the most expressively shaped eyes he had ever seen. Seemingly huge eyes of a dark moss green colour, oozing strength and vulnerability at the same time.

What uncle and niece had in common was the mixture of sadness and determination in their eyes. It made Padraig wonder what had happened to put this expression in both their eyes. Maybe the same thing that had got Lord Victor to make his niece a knight in training.

Lord Padraig cleared his throat. "Please, sit down." After exchanging the usual pleasantries with the Lord, he looked at Samira. He was surprised to be faced by a direct and piercing glace, not wavering in the least. "Well, Samira. You came here to become a knight. I hope you don't think it will be easy. Four years as a page, four years as a squire and the Chamber of Ordeal are standing between you and your knighthood. The classes and the training will grow harder with time. You will need physical and mental strength. Do you really think you will be able to do this?" _'As if she'd really consider saying no.'_

"Yes, sir," was the calm reply.

_'I knew it.' _Lord Padraig was feeling very uncomfortable under the piercing glare of Lord Victor, who eyed him like some kind of insect. _'Please gods, let me survive this.' _"I have to tell you that you will be treated like all the other pages of your age. There are no privileges because of your sex. If you can't keep up with the boys, this is the wrong place for you." 

Now Lord Victor looked really angry.

_'I live dangerous. He looks like he wants to eat me. Gods, please help me!'_

Samira herself looked as calm as ever. She didn't seem to be easily influenced.

_'I hope she'll make it. Lord Victor will hold me responsible if she fails.' _"If everything is clear, you can go now." A few more polite pleasantries and they finally left Lord Padraig alone with his relief_. 'Thanks to Mithros. That's it. That was the last page. This year will be very hard. How could I've been so stupid to take the job as the pages' training master? I must've been completely insane. Now I need a drink!'_

"I can't believe that I'm here." Berenice of Gohman looked at her new bedroom in the pages' wing. It was furnished more plain than she was used to. A bed, some chairs, a table, and a cupboard. That was everything. Her suitcases were on the bed, only half the things she would have liked to take with her. She felt lonely and frustrated.

_'Why did I agree to come to the palace? Why didn't I just go to convent where noble girls like me belong? I'm a complete idiot, that's it,'_ she thought_. 'Only because Cori and Sam wanted to be knights... They talked me around. That's it. Without Sam, mother would have _never_ agreed to anything like that.'_ Grumbling she started to clear away her clothes_. 'Boys' clothes. I will make a fool of myself. They will beat me up. The girl who thought she could keep up with boys. They believe that I don't belong here. I saw how they glared at me when I arrived. And they are right.' Bery sat down. __'What am I supposed to do?'_

Suddenly somebody was knocking on the door.

"Who is there?"

"It's me."

Bery groaned. "Come in." _'If it's necessary,' she added in her mind._

A smiling young girl entered the room. She had short blond hair and gold brown eyes. Corvina of Kourell.

_'Why is she always that happy? It drives me crazy! I would kill for her looks. And she risks her pretty face in fights.' _Bery herself had brown hair and dark brown eyes. In her own opinion, she looked much too ordinary for a noble. "What do you want?"

"Are you in a bad mood?"  Cori asked, still smiling happily.

_'How sagacious she is.'_ "I would describe it differently."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see your room. Did you know that it's next to mine?"

"Oh really, how pleasant!"

"I don't like it when you talk like that." Cori started to frown lightly, her happy radiation fading.

"And how do I talk, my lady?"

"Ironic … aggressive…"

"Oh! Yes, now that you're mentioning it... But why on earth should I be ironic? I mean, being here ... following your stupid dream ..."

"Wait a minute. _My dream? You wanted to become a knight, too"_

"It was you that brought up that stupid idea to me. No. It's Sam. She is the reason we are here."

Now Cori was really angry. "Sam has nothing to do with your presence. It was your own decision. If you didn't want to be here, why didn't you say something?"

"And look like a coward! I knew both of you would have liked it ..."

"Hey! Don't attack _me. If you are not courageous enough to say what you want to do, it's _not _my fault."_

"I knew I would find both of you here. I just had to follow the noise."

Both girls turned to look at the girl leaning in the door.

"Sam!"

Samira of Pinehollow eyed her cousin and her uncle's godchild with mild annoyance. "OK. What or who is the problem? And does it really interest me?"

Suddenly Bery's rage cooled down rapidly. Arguing with Cori was something completely different than with Sam. Sam was direct and honest, even if she hurt other people. Normally she didn't care about people much, mainly remained alone, valuing her privacy above anything else. But sometimes ... Even Bery, who had a quite sharp tongue, was afraid of a discussion with her. "It's ... it's only ... because of you," she stammered, trying hard to regain her angry posture. "Only because of you we are here."

Sam looked bored, completely unfazed by the accusations directed towards her. "Cori. Please, leave us alone."

Cori looked a little surprised and worried at her cousin. "What ...?"

"Please."

Cori still hesitated. "Don't be too ... uhm… severe…" She left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

Sam looked at Bery, narrowing her eyes. "Now. The truth. At once. What frightens you?"

Bery startled. "I am _not afraid!"_

Sam went on staring at her. Moss green eyes can be very irritating. When Sam looked like that, nobody was able to lie, at least in Bery's opinion.

"I want to be home."

Sam nodded. "Why?"

"I'll fail. I know it. I'm just a girl. I'm not strong enough. They'll hurt me. They'll make my life misery. I can't do that." Bery almost cried.

Sam snorted and shrugged. "If you say so, I suppose it's true. You will fail, of course."

Not exactly the answer Bery had expected. "W...what?"

"Without faith in yourself you will fail. If you want to fail that is. "

"How can you … even _think that I __want to fail?" Bery was shocked._

"All you know is how to be the perfect court lady, isn't it? Most members of your family are dead, except for your mother and some distant aunts. No male role model to show you what being a knight is supposed to mean. You are afraid that you agreed to be something you can't live up to. You are afraid to take over a responsibility that is too much for you, to make promises you can't fulfil."

Bery frowned deeply in confusion.

After a while Sam continued. "Remember. After the burial of your father, you told me that you wanted to protect your mother. Nobody should harm your family anymore. Your father and your brothers are gone. Nobody can do this, apart from you. Do you want to wait until you are married to some nobleman who might or might not be brave and clever enough to protect and to manage your fief with success? Or do you want to be the master of your destiny?" Sam sighed again. "Bery, this is the first and the last time I'll say this to you. You are strong enough to do this. You are stubborn, you are brave … most of the time … and you are clever. Choose your destiny. It's in your hand."

Bery looked up hopefully. Somehow the fact that her feelings seemed to be an open book to the girl in front of her seemed to comfort her, in a very strange way. "Choose my destiny? Like you?"

A sad shadow passed Sam's face before she whispered: "No. I don't have a choice."


	2. Sponsors

Chapter 02:   **Sponsors**

With a deep sigh Sam left Bery's room. _'I wonder why it's always me who gets stuck with mentally supporting people. Hell, most of the time all I hear is how cold and distant I am, too direct and so on.  But when they start to become really whiny and I tell them what I'm thinking, everything is well again. It's strange, when exactly is it fine for me to say what I think, and when is it not? At least she didn't try to hug me. I just feel … odd… hugging everything in sight, like Cori does.'_

Suddenly she heard someone sniggering next to her and turned around… to face her worst nightmare: Twins. She just had to look at those two and immediately knew from the twinkle in their bright blue eye that those girls meant mischief. Both were already clothed in the page's uniform, and having the same short black hair and identical features they resembled each other so much, that you couldn't hold them apart by merely looking at them.

Sam eyed the girls as if to decide if they meant a threat to her or not. _'Life here will be difficult. The day becomes better with every minute passing. And we haven't even met the boys yet.'_

One of the girls bounced towards her, grinning like a maniac and stretched her hand towards Sam. "I'm Aidan of Crystal Lake. That's my little sister Ariadne. Nice to meet you."

Sam eyed the offered hand carefully for any traps before shaking it. "Samira of Pinehollow. Nice to meet you, too." _'I hope…'_

The twins seemed highly amused by the cautious way Sam acted towards them. The other little girl joined her sister and shook Sam's hand as well. "You can call me Ria. She's Danny for anyone except our mother. How about you? Sami? Mira?"

Sam flinched barely visible at the newly invented nicknames. "Sam would be fine, thanks."

Both twins exchanged a grin and Ria continued. "Well, since we are in the same boat we should stick together, you know. Those boys won't stand a chance against us. We are five after all."

Sam smirked and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. The other two will join us soon, I hope at least." She looked back at Bery's door thoughtfully, then turned around again. "I think helping each other out will make it a little easier for us. Oh! There's Cori."

The door next to Bery's had opened and Cori stepped out, a disgusted look on her face.

Sam blinked in surprise and asked. "What's the matter?"

Cori looked up at her cousin and the two small girls next to her, watching her intently. "I really don't know what the cleaning standards at the palace are, but considering the condition of my bed it's lousy." At the blank look of her cousin she continued. "There is some sort of … glibber in my bed. Ugly green _glibber_"

After looking at her cousin for a long moment, Sam slowly turned her head towards the twins who suddenly looked like the innocence incarnate. "Sticking together, ne?"

Finally it was time for supper, and like usually on the first day the pages gathered around Lord Padraig, the first-years in nervous anticipation of what was awaiting them now.

_'Well. Here we are.' _Sam was watching the other pages_.' Quite a few first- year, I'm impressed. It will be interesting who will sponsor a girl. Could be difficult to find an acceptable sponsor for each of us five. Cori, Bery, me, the twins ... wait a minute.' Sam looked surprised at Aidan and Ariadne. __'Do I have a problem with my eyes? One, two ... Three?' Sam nudged Cori softly to get her attention and whispered. "Do you see what I see?"_

"Depends on what you are seeing." Cori's eyes followed the direction Sam was pointing at. Then her eyes widened. "Oh gods! Triplets."

Sam nodded in silent defeat. _'And here I thought we couldn't be in more trouble with twins. Now we have triplets. I wonder what those three will be doing this year. I just have the feeling that they mean trouble, I just can't help myself.'_

"Now it's time for the first- year pages to get a sponsor." Lord Padraig looked around, waiting for the conversations to stop. When he had everyone's full attention he pointed to a red haired boy in the first line. "Your name and the holding of your family."

"Rabanus of Blue Mountain." The boy was taken immediately by a page called Kyle of Nenan.

Then Lord Padraig pointed to one of the triplets. "Aaron of Crystal Lake."

"Now I understand why they were separated at the girls' wing. One of them is a boy," Cori whispered excitedly. She didn't seem to share her cousins wariness towards the triplets, she seemed to be more excited about the idea.

After Aaron got his sponsor, it was Aidan's turn. The silence stretched as soon as Aidan had said her name.

_'I knew it would be difficult.' S_am looked around. _'Come on. We only need five of you.' _Then she noticed some of the boys discussing, a few of them seemed to feel obviously uncomfortable. Finally one of them said. "I will sponsor her."

Lord Padraig was looking at him. "Colin of Agate Coast sponsors Aidan of Crystal Lake. Well, who will sponsor Ariadne of Crystal Lake?"

"I will sponsor her."

The training master seemed surprised at the fast answer. "Quentin of Agate Coast sponsors Ariadne of Crystal Lake."

Sam quickly shot a glance towards the two sponsors. Good, no twins, just normal brothers it seemed. They didn't need more like the triplets.

Next turn was Bery's, who's sponsor was called Milan of Ivy Towers. After her followed Corvina.

"I will sponsor her."

"Lachran of Mindelan sponsors Corvina of Kourell."

Cori seemed quite pleased with her sponsor. Sam had to admit he looked quite friendly.

At last it was Sam's turn, the last one of the girls. When she said her name, she saw that some boys where pushing another. Finally this boy said that he wanted to sponsor her. _'They have already decided who of them will have to sponsor the girls beforehand,' Sam realised._

Then she heard Lord Padraig say: "Nathan of Malven sponsors Samira of Pinehollow"

After the sponsors and their first-years had introduced themselves, the herd of pages started to follow Lord Padraig to the huge dining hall.

Cori glanced worriedly at her cousin who faced her sponsor, her face calm and impassive. They didn't even talk to each other, only measuring each other with cool calculating eyes.

She started when her sponsor put a hand at her shoulder and smiled warmly at her. She had to admit she already liked the boy very much. He was nice, friendly and as the nephew of Keladry of Mindelan he sure as hell wouldn't have any prejudices towards female pages.

His friend was Milan of Ivy Towers, a good natured guy with a messy mob of chestnut hair and friendly grey-blue eyes, Bery's sponsor. The other girl seemed to be much calmer and less self-conscious right now. Cori hoped she was fine again, not just putting up a façade.

"Don't worry." Lachran smiled at her reassuringly. "He is not as bad as everyone thinks. He can be a quite nice guy, and he surly won't harm her in any way."

Cori looked up in surprise. "How do you know?"

"He was my sponsor last year." Lachran glanced to the older page thoughtfully.

Cori followed his example and asked curiously: "Are you friends?"

"No. Not really. He doesn't have any close friends. He separates himself too much. He's always so cold and distant. You can't really get to him, you know." Lachran shook his head and sighed. "He's in his third year now, and it was a hard time, being a Malven. Some of the other pages don't think that he belongs here, and they show him that he is unwanted, but he never gives up. It's really amazing…"

"But how can he afford the training? And how will he be able to afford the high costs every knight has? I mean, for most of the less rich families it is hard to send their sons to the palace, but his family is still being punished for the treason and supposed to be quite poor. "

"I don't know. He never told me." Lachran sighed. "Well. Let's talk about other things. Welcome to the palace. After supper Mil and me will show the two of you around. So now let's go and eat, I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse …"

Cori smiled and followed him. "Thank you. Call me Cori." As much as she tried not to, she just had to  ask. "You're related to Keladry of Mindelan, aren't you?"

Lachran laughed. "I knew this would be one of the first things you would ask. Yes, she's my aunt."

"Is that the reason you chose me?" Cori asked seriously. She wasn't entirely sure if she would like it if that was the case. 

"In some way, you could say so. Some of the other boys have ... a low opinion about female pages. My aunt did have problems with guys like them, when she was your age. You would have been in great trouble if they had chosen you. And you looked quite nice and friendly. That's why I took you, not one of the others."

Cori was torn between being pleased at his answer, and worried about the other girls. "Who are those boys? Has one of them chosen one of the other girls?"

Lachran shook his head. "No. None of your friends are in danger. Quentin and Colin, Quentin's older brother, are my friends as well. Mil and Quen are second- year pages, like me, and Colin is his last year as a page. He's nice, too. Things have changed, slowly, but they have. After all those wars… Now people are getting used to women fighting. It was necessary when the men were abroad in war. And some of the other boys have mothers who fought one way or the other when their fiefs were threatened" He looked at Cori and laughed again. "Now I'm stopping, this stuff is to heavy to discuss right now. Let's get some food already."

After all the other pages had left, the only two persons remaining were Sam and Nathan, who still stared intently at each other. 

Suddenly, Nathan turned around barked: "Follow me." Then he stormed down the corridor without looking back, following the others. To his surprise the girl followed him without a word of protest, or a complaint about his rude tone. But she didn't even look angry, only calm and thoughtful. _'Well, let's see what plan she has to get rid of me. After all she won't like to be stuck with The Malven, won't she?'_

So he waited for her to talk, to come up with some plan to stay away from him as much as possible. But she didn't say anything to him. Not when they arrived at the dining hall. Not when they got their food. Even after the prayer she ate quietly, without disturbing his thoughts. Hell, he could nearly say she was a pleasant companion, not so nosy and annoying like the other, but her silence mad him nervous and he observed her with veiled distrust. Suddenly he spoke. "Don't you ever talk?"

Sam looked up. "You don't want to talk."

Nathan gaped at her. _'I don't want to talk? What the …? What kind of answer is that?' He shook his head in confusion and sighed in defeat. "How shall I call you?"_

She glanced at him from beneath her bangs. "Sam."

"You will call me Nat." As if she would talk to him that often. But she had to know the name of the guy she would soon be making fun of in the near future or, if she had more dignity as the most, would avoid like poison.

Sam only nodded and continued eating. They had so much more space than the others. Nat had taken a place as far away from the other pages as possible, and some of them were staring intensely at them.

Nat stared furiously at his plate, eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched_. 'No! I won't do it. I won't do that to her. I'm no ones marionette. They wanna to play games? Not with me.' _He looked up at Sam, studying her delicate face intently_. _She intrigued him, he had to admit. She had been acting different to everybody else he met yet. He pushed back the traitorous glimmer of hope rising within him. No. He wouldn't fall for her act, she might be different, but not _that_ much._ 'They told me to get rid of the Mindelan boy. And I didn't. And I will do nothing against her as well. I might be a Malven, but I do have my pride, and I will never lower their level… I wonder how they will punish me this time.'_

Suddenly Sam raised her eyes abruptly, he nearly jumped in surprise, and their gazes locked. _'She has strange eyes. Intense… What colour is this? Very dark green …' The longer he returned her gaze, the more the more shades of colour he could make out '… moss green eyes... never before… is that golden mixing with the green …'_ Nat became more and more nervous under her gaze, and shook his head. _'Snap out of it already. Stop contemplating her eyes' colour like some lovesick fool.'_

Sam narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then she lowly let her eyes wander around until she stared back at the three boys sneering at them. _'They have such cold eyes. It had to be expected to met some of their kind. They consider me their enemy. What a pity. There are not worthy to be mine. Cowards, needing the protection of their herd to attack someone weaker in the darkness. Maybe I will have to take care of them. Touch those who belong to me, and you'll regret it.'_

She turned back at Nat. "What did those guys want to achieve by making you choose me?"

Nat gaped at her, again. He really needed to stop that, letting himself be taken by surprise by her. "How ... ?"

"I saw them pushing you before you chose me. You looked trapped, haunted. And you look beaten up."

Now _that_ was a new one. Firstly he had thought he had no visible bruises, secondly he had never thought anybody would give a damn about it. How did this sneaky little girl … "Nobody has beaten me up. How did you get that idea?"

"The way you move. You are stiff and maybe even hurt. Not bad, I think, but enough to show."

There was no pity in her eyes, only acknowledgement. He really hated being pitied. The only feelings he ever caused were hate and pity. Oh, yeah, disgust, how could he forget about that one? But he didn't see them in Sam's eyes…yet.

"I fell down."

Sam raised her eyebrows an inch in disbelieve, then shrugged and returned to her meal.

_'She doesn't even try to make me confess that I didn't fall. Lachran has asked me all day about such things. She knows that I lied and she accepts it... Good, isn't it?' _He sighed deeply and finished his meal_. 'Let's wait until the others have talked to her. Then things will change, soon.'_

After the meal, a great tour around the palace was in order, for the first-years not to lose their way that easily. Cori, Bery and their sponsors went together. Milan was making them laugh with his funny jokes and stories, about anyone and anything in the castle. 

Cori really liked the boys. _'We will have so much fun together. Even Bery is in a better mood now. I knew Sam would be successful. She knows people. I wonder what she said to her.' _Cori sighed. _'She won't tell me. She never does.'_

Suddenly their heard footsteps, approaching fast, then a boy raced around the corner, coming to a halt in front of Lachran and gasped out breathlessly. "Did you see my first- year?"

Lachran blinked in surprise. "You have chosen one of the triplets, Colin, haven't you?"

"Yes. I chose Aidan…Danny. But she … she vanished."

"How can a ten year old girl vanish?"

"I don't know. I turned around and … she was gone. I called her but I didn't get an answer. I even asked our three 'friends' if they have seen her, but they denied."

"Who are these friends?" Bery asked intrigued.

Milan frowned thoughtfully and answered. "Some of the third- year pages. Damian of Windshole, Kajus of Grealok and Ruben of Espial." He looked at her seriously. "Be careful whenever you meet them, especially when you're alone. They don't like you girls."

"They don't even know us." Cori was shocked, but not really surprised.

"That doesn't matter to them. Believe me. Be careful." Lachran's mouth was a grim line.

Suddenly Colin looked behind them and exclaimed. "Here you are!"

He raced quickly to a black haired triplet, who stared at him innocently, and griped its arm. "Do you have the slightest idea how easy you could have gone astray? Why do you think you need sponsors? Not to get lost. Do you have the slightest imagination about the trouble the both of us could have gotten into, because of this stunt of yours?"

Suddenly he heard an angry shout behind him. "Hey, brother! What are you doing with _my first-year?" Colins younger brother Quentin joined the group. "I've searched for her for at least an hour. Ria that isn't funny at all…"_

"But that is Danny, not Ria… I think. I've just found her…"

Quentin looked confused. "You have lost your triplet, too? But how do you know who of them it is?"

Now Colin looked unsure, and both boys turned their eyes to the triumphantly grinning triplet. "Ok. Who are you, little one?"

"I'm Aaron." Hell, even their voices were identical at this age.

Colin groaned out. "Aaron! Where is your sponsor?"

Suddenly the group heard a torrent of curses and found Robert of Rose Hill, sponsor of Aaron of Crystal Lake, stalking towards them. His head was red of fury. "Oh please let this be the annoying little brat! Aaron, you are sooo ripe for the beating of your life…! Is this my first-year or yours, Colin?"

Colin nodded surprised.

"Don't let him slip away! I will have to talk to that little ..." A number of insults followed.

"Do you know how long I searched for you? Can you imagine what Lord Padraig would have done to me if I had lost you?" Suddenly he stopped. He looked at the two brothers. "Wait a minute. Didn't you sponsor the sisters of this little weasel?"

The boys nodded. "Then, where are they."

Both brothers slumped slightly in defeat. "We lost them."

Robert started to grin and rubbed his hands in contentment. "Veeery well. I'm not the only idiot around here. That makes me feel better, well, a little bit at least."

Quentin looked sourly at the older page and barked angrily. "I'm so glad to help you with catching your triplet, but what about us? We still have to find the girls, damn it!"

"Ok, Ok. You caught mine, I'll help you find yours. Let's go looking for them." He looked at Aaron, eyes narrowed to angry slits and hissed.. "And _you will stay with us." Then the four turned around, discussing which direction to turn to and went away._

Cori, Bery and their sponsors watched the retreating group incredulously.

"I think we've chosen the better ones." Milan whispered to Lachran who nodded amazed and agreed.

Sam was waiting for Nat. He had told her that he had something to fetch from his room and that he would return in a minute. That had been half an hour ago. _'Will that guy ever return? I really don't like to wait..' _Sam watched her surroundings in annoyance. Ten minutes ago she had seen the sponsors of the triplets together with Aaron running after Danny… or Ria. Sam thought it was Danny, although from that distance it was hard to say. She shook her head and groaned silently. _'He said I have to wait and he seemed serious about it. If he doesn't want me to see his room I have to accept that, but … could he at least hurry up.'_ She heard a soft noise at the end of the corridor. Her eyes started to search for the source of the noise. Again! Somebody moaned. A movement in a dark corner, and Sam could make out the stiff figure of her sponsor, walking towards her very slowly. "Nat!" Sam was running to him. He looked really bad, his hair rumpled his clothes in complete disorder and his stance slumped and rigid. "Who has beaten you up?"

"I fell down."

Sam frowned. "On both sides of your body? You need a better excuse, you know."

Nat swayed slightly and Sam caught him before he could fall to the floor. "Do you need a healer?" She asked softly.

"No healer. I have my own ... connections. Nobody has to know it." Nat ground out.

Sam looked seriously at him. "If that's what you want, I won't tell anybody."

"Thank you." Nat got lowly back on his feet. "I'll go now."

"Can I help you, somehow?"

"I can do this alone. I'm used to it. Good night." Nat turned around abruptly and went away.

Sam watched him until he vanished from her sight. _'He came here because he knew I was waiting. And he was beaten up by the boys who pressed him to be my sponsor. I'm sure about that.'_ She turned around and went to her room. _'He doesn't want to talk about it. I have to respect his wishes.'_

Someone was knocking on Sam's door.

"Come in, Cori."

Cori entered the room, a puzzled look on her face. "How do you always know it's me?"

"Nobody knocks as friendly as you."

Cori looked confused. "Really? Even when I'm angry?"

"Yes, even then."

Cori shook her head in disbelieve. "Well, I only wanted to ask if you're, well … fine."

Sam smirked. "Nat didn't bite me."

Cori blushed. "I didn't want to … assume things. I only wondered ... I'm sorry."

Sam smiled kindly at her. Of all the people she knew, Cori was one of the few members of her family she really loved. The kind of love she would feel for a sister, if she had one. "Nat is a … nice guy, I think. We will get along fine."

"Lachran is nice, too. I think we were lucky. The boys told me that we might get problems with some of the third- year pages."

Sam looked at her. "If they hurt you _they will be the one with problems."_

Cori smiled and embraced her cousin and whispered. "Don't get into trouble because of me. You are only ten. They are thirteen. I know what you are able to do, but your life is hard enough without making even more enemies because of little old me."

Sam sighed and returned the embrace carefully. "I think we already are enemies."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ok, this is it for the second chapter. So, watcha thinking? Is it too long? I think it's longer than the first one, which one is better?

I'm pretty busy at the moment, and I spent a sleepless night rewriting this. It might take some time for me to update again, because now I need to concentrate on my lectures at University.

Thank you very much for your reviews! I try to give my best to match your expectations.

**QueenofConnaught****:I'll try to read your fics as soon as possible, my free time is very limited at the moment, and I try to get through with the chapters as fast as possible. I've already peeked your fics and have to say they sound really promising.**

**Soul Generator:** Danke für dein Review, hat mich echt gefreut. Die überarbeiteten Kapitel scheinen ganz gut anzukommen. Ich hab festgestellt das mein beta die alten anscheinend nicht richtig korrigiert hat, ich finde immer mehr Fehler. Diesmal habe ich etwas unter Druck gearbeitet, aber ich hoffe es ist trotzdem gut geworden.


	3. Secrets

Chapter 03:   **Secrets**

**Darkness all around her…**

**Screams…**

**Then silence…**

**Pain, blood ... one face…**

Sam woke up sweating. _'No! Not again. I hate this nightmare.' _Cursing she got up.

_'What time is it?'_ She looked out of the window. _'Dawn.'_

_'I don't want to fall asleep again.' _She looked at the mirror. Her face was pale, her eyes red. But she didn't cry. She wasn't able to cry anymore. She had no more tears left.

_'Well. If I can't sleep I might do something useful.'_ She looked at her room. Her clothes were already in the wardrobe. The bookcase was nearly full and some plants decorated the window. _'That's the problem of unpacking everything immediately. Nothing left to do.'_

She looked at her bed. At the end of it there was a big chest, made of oak- wood with carvings on it. She touched it lovingly.

She knew it wasn't normal for pages to take such things with them. Normally they took the furniture which was already there. But this chest was something special. It was hers. It was the only thing left from her family. _'I will never forget.'_

She opened it slowly. The chest had no key- hole. It was closed by magic and only Sam was able to open it. She looked sadly at the things in it.

After a while she took something out of it. A sword. The hilt and the sheath were decorated with moss green stones and strange engravings. The engravings seemed to be words, words of a forgotten language. Words of the same kind were also engraved at the blade. The metal shimmered green. This sword was very unusual.

_'Someday I will be worth wielding this sword.'_ She took a box also kept in the chest.

'He won't get them. I will protect these things with my life. They are too powerful to fall into his hands.'

She put the sword and the box back in the chest and closed it with a slam. _'I will kill him.' _But there was no enthusiasm behind these thoughts, no fierce determination, just resigned knowledge and acceptance.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

The morning bell rang.

Cori was already awake. She had been too exited to sleep any longer. She had dressed herself and was now ready to leave her room.

_'Bery will kill me if I come to her now. She is not a morning person. Not. At. All.'_ She went out of her room and knocked the door opposite to her own. No reply. Cori knocked again. "Come on Sam! I know you are awake. I'm coming now." She opened the door.

Sam was sitting on her bed, legs crossed hands in a strange position.

Cori grinned. "Ok. Let me guess ... you've been up for three hours. You have already trained a bit and now you are meditating to calm yourself down. Am I right?"

Sam opened her eyes slowly. "Two hours." She still had the dreamy look in her eyes she always had when she was meditating. She already wore the pages' uniform.

"These colours suit you well."

"Thanks. You look good, too."

Cori sat beside her. "How do you think our first day will be."

"Long."

Cori giggled and rested her chin on her cousin's shoulder. "Hey, come on, at least a whole sentence."

Sam's lips curled slightly. "The day will be long."

Cori stuck her tongue out and growled playfully. "Very funny."

"What do you want me to say. In the morning we will have training, in the afternoon we will  study. After that we will have some homework. And after that we will fall in bed as if we were dead."

Cori leaned back and frowned deeply. "Spoilsport. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Your problem. Don't ask questions if you don't want to hear the answers."

Cori jumped up." Ok. Enough small talk for the moment. Let's go for breakfast."

She opened the door again. Behind the door Bery was waiting. She tried hid a huge yawn behind her hand, not quite succeeding, and murmured disdainfully: "Good morning."

"Good morning Bery!" Cori said effusively and embraced her. Then she stormed away to greet the two sisters who went out of their rooms at that moment, leaving Bery frozen behind her.

"She knows I hate that. That's why she does it." Bery looked at Sam. "Does she embrace you every morning?"

"No."

"I knew it."

Cursing, Bery went off to the mess hall.

Sam followed her grinning inwardly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At the mess hall Cori, Bery, the triplets and their sponsors sat down at one table.

Colin, Quentin and Robert still looked quite angry. They were observing the triplets all the time, as if they thought the three could vanish at any second.

Sam looked around and found Nat sitting at the end of an empty table. He looked up surprised when she sat down in front of him. "What's the matter?"

"I want to eat my breakfast." She replied calmly, not looking up from her food.

"And why not at your friends' table?"

"You are my sponsor." She shrugged and bit in a piece of bread.

Nat shook his head. "I thought they'd already talked to you."

"About what?"

"About me."

"What's so interesting about you."

"I'm a Malven."

"I know."

"My Uncle was a traitor."

"I know."

"Nobody wants to be with me."

"I know."

"So what do you want here?"

"I want to eat." And that she did.

Nat looked confused before returning to his own meal. _'Is she playing with me? She looks serious ... maybe the others haven't talked to her yet.'_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So you have already been trained. By whom?" Lachran looked surprised at Cori. The four pages were on their way to the training courts.

"Well, we have some soldiers at our fief, you know, the usual protection, and one of them showed me the basics. And I was trained by my father as well, as often as he had the time for it." Cori smiled.

"And what about you Bery? Were you also trained by your father?" Milan asked her friendly.

"My father is dead."

Both boys looked shocked.

"We didn't know that. I'm sorry for your loss." Milan said pitiful.

Bery shook her head. "It was four years ago. Half a year later, I started to train. My mother hired a good fighter, who taught me things like hunting, riding and some other basic skills."

"Then both of you started at the age of six?"

The girls nodded.

Lachran traded a secret look with Milan. Then he continued asking. "And Sam, did she start at the same age, too?"

Bery shook her head. "No, she started much earlier."

Lachran seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing. "Well, that really surprises me."

Both girls stared at him quizzically.

"Don't misunderstand me. My aunt also started fighting at the age of six. But I thought your families were very …ähm… conservative. I'm surprised that you three were allowed to come here at all. And now I hear from you that your families even prepared you for being knights. That's a bit strange. The parents of Ariadne and Aidan are known as supporters of the idea of Lady Knights. So it's no surprise they went here. But you ..."

Lachran shook is head. "Well, I don't understand that."

Cori traded a look with Bery. Then she started to explain.

"Both of us have lost our brothers. We are the only heirs of our families' fiefs. Sam's uncle never had an heir. It's only logical that they want us to be prepared as much as possible."

"But there would be other ways, why..."

"They thought it would be a good idea, Ok? I question you for being here, so stop examining me." Cori looked quite angry now.

Lachran was startled. He hadn't intended to annoy her. "Sorry. I was only curious."

Bery sighed. "Come on, Cori, they are nice. They don't want to harm anybody." She looked at the two boys. "Well, the reason why our parents decided to send us here instead of the convent is that Sam's uncle talked to them."

"Bery!" Cori hissed.

Bery ignored her friend. "You are right, the families of Pinehollow, Kourell and Gohman would have never agreed with our wish to become Lady Knights only five years ago. In that time something happened that changed their point of view completely. A member of the Pineh..."

Bery stopped talking when Cori hit her. "Shut up!"

The two boys looked really surprised at Cori, whose voice sounded cold with anger.

"I only wanted ..."

"You don't have the right to tell them anything! It is not your story! I will not allow you to tell anybody more than necessary!" Every sign of a smile had left Cori's face.

Bery looked as shocked as the boys now. "But it concerns me, too. I don't know what's so bad about telling them. It's not something …"

"You don't know half of the real occurrences!"

"My mother told me ..."

"Your mother knows nothing! Don't talk about things you don't have enough information about! If you knew everything you wouldn't talk so freely about it! It's personal."

"But Sam ..."

"If she wants to talk about it, she will do it herself. If I hear that you have started with that thing again, you will wish that you were never born. WAS THAT UNDERSTANDABLE FOR YOU?"

Bery nodded shakily, eyes huge with shock.

Cori turned to the boys. "And you two. Who wanted you to interrogate us?"

"N- nobody."

"Some things are private. This is one of those things. If I notice that you bother Sam with your questions, you will experience just how angry I can get." After that she turned around and rushed away.

The boys stood there, mouth open, staring at the disappearing girl.

"What was that?" Lachran looked at Bery.

The girl shook her head, face still pale, and followed Cori to the training courts.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

Keladry of Mindelan was in the stables, caring for her horse Peachblossom. Suddenly she heard a quiet noise behind her. She turned around, curious who might be here at this time. "Oh, it's you Lachran."

She smiled kindly at the boy. That was the reason why her birds didn't alarm her. They knew her nephew and liked him. "How are you?"

"Well, thank you."

Kel eyed her nephew with care. He seemed a little depressed. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Everything is ... fine."

_'He doesn't want to talk about it.'_ Kel smiled again. "How is it to be a second- year page? Is the training Ok?"

"It's fine. It's harder, and we don't have any free time, but it's fine."

"I remember. And how are the girls." Kel was really curious in how successful the new female pages were.

"Well. They are ... good. I mean, for example the triplets. All the time they play tricks on the other pages. They already had some fights because of it. But during the training they are very attentive, and they learn fast."

Kel smiled again. "That's good. And the other girls?"

Lachran looked odd. "I'm the sponsor of Cori, Corvina of Kourell."

"Good. Do you like her? Are you friends?"

"She nice. Always friendly. A good fighter, but ..."

"What?"

"A week ago I asked her why she was allowed to come here. She told me because her parents had no other heir and that they want her to be prepared as much as possible."

Kel frowned. "But it happens often that there are only daughters in a family. Normally the family searches for an acceptable husband for the oldest daughter. Above all, the conservatives."

"Cori became really angry. She told me that it's her business. Bery, Berenice of Gohman, another girl, wanted to say something. But Cori became so angry, that Bery is too afraid to say anything. I didn't want to interrogate them. I only wanted to be their friend."

Lachran seemed sad. "I told her later that I'm sorry, and that I didn't want to make her angry. I had to promise never to ask such questions again." He looked at Kel. "But I'm worried. Before being cut off by Cori, Bery said some things I can't get out of my mind."

"What things?"

"She told me that Sam's, Samira of Pinehollow, uncle talked to Cori's and her parents, and after that they were allowed to become knights."

"But Lord Victor of Pinehollow was one of the first who criticised me when I became a page." Kel was surprised. "Why has he changed his opinion?"

"That's what I'm worrying about. Bery said that something had happened five years ago, and after that these three families have changed their opinion about Lady Knights. Aunt Kel, they've even trained their daughters since they were six years old for being knights. And the thing that happened concerned a member of, I think, the Pinehollow family. And it concerns Sam. When Bery started to tell me about that, Cori became so furious, you can't imagine. She said that it's Sam's business, and that Bery wouldn't say anything if she knew more about it." Lachran looked at his aunt. "There is something wrong. Completely wrong. Cori acted as if she wanted to protect her cousin. As if she was afraid something might happen if we knew too much."

Kel shook her head helplessly. "And how is that Sam? What kind of girl is she?"

"Her sponsor is Nathan of Malven. They are together most of the time. I don't know how, but she can keep company with him. I wasn't able to stay his friend, even though I tried. But she's like very similar to him in some ways. Calm… suspicious… not very social. The only person she really likes is Cori. But even to her she's silent most of the time. And she learns fast. Not only the theoretical stuff. At the first practise hour with the Shang Horse, you remember, learning how to fall, she was able to do it right after the second try. And she never had training with a Shang, she said."

Kel was impressed. "That rare."

"I wanted to question Cori about it, but she gave that do-not-ask-look, and I didn't want her to be angry again."

Kel couldn't prevent a grin. _'She has him under her thumb after a week. Not bad.'_

Lachran continued explaining. "Sam isn't interested in the opinion of anyone. She didn't try to hide how good she is. So, she doesn't have many friends right now. And she's better trained than any of the other first- years. Even better than some of the older pages. I worry about her. I think there must be something wrong with her family. She never talks about her past. Maybe she's in trouble. I came here because I wanted to ask you for advice."

Kel sighed. "Let her live like she wants to. It might be her normal character, and if not ... . I will ask the Lioness when I see her tomorrow. If there is something wrong, we will try to help her." She put a hand on her nephews shoulder. "Don't worry too much. If there was any danger for the girl, we would have already heard about it. I'm sure."

Lachran smiled at his aunt. He felt better now that he knew somebody would help Sam if it was necessary.

Kel smiled back at him. She felt proud that she was the person Lachran came to when he had problems. "What do you think, is it possible for me to visit the girls?"

Lachran grinned. "I think they would be happy to meet you. Especially Danny and Ria. They saw you once at a tournament and they are always saying that they want to be like you. Or like the Lioness."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm finally back. The second semester is starting this Monday and I've been awfully busy these past months. I had to pass a test in English, which was supposed to be awfully difficult, not even native speakers are supposed to get more than 94% of the points. But I actually passed it and now I'm allowed to study English. If I didn't have to learn Latin to do so I'd be even more delighted.

Well, my timetable will be awfully filled and I don't know how much this will affect my writing. I'll see with time. This is my last free evening and since so many of you reviewed lately, I thought it would be spent best by adding the third chapter at ff.net. I hope you like it.

The neighbour living above me seems to be a big karaoke fan or something like that. He can't sing if his life depended on it. It's like listening an ape roaring in the jungle, only with background music. Correction, a drunken ape. And if this wouldn't be enough, he's doing it on a daily basis and especially at night, sometimes past midnight. He is feeling especially vocal at Sundays. Today is Sunday. He never lasts more than an hour, than he has to take a break. After some time he starts again … I'm feeling the urge to kill something veeeery slowly and even more painful right now. If murder wasn't a crime nowadays… even some of the neighbours from the other houses in this street are shouting at him sometimes, and I'm living in a big city, where people are used to noise. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. Why the heck I'm telling you this? He is singing just this moment. I need to meditate or I'll do something I'll regret later on. If only the music I use to listen wouldn't be drowned by his … you really can't say singing to that kind of noise anymore. 

Lady Rhian Knightmage:  My deepest sympathy to your poor brother. German grammar is awfully hard to learn. I hope he will fare well with it.

Kalle:   No problem, I know how hard exams can be. I can still barely believe that I'm finally finished with school. I don't know about college, because the German education system is different, but I can tell you in university life becomes both harder and easier. The standard of education is higher, you have to learn much more, but at least only in the subjects you are interested in. But it's much more free and open than in school. And for example here in Munich, which is a fairly large city, there a so many new and different people to meet, I love it. It was the best choice of my life to have moved here. Hope you will have as much luck as I did, and good luck with your exams.

Moranar:   No I'm not abandoning this story, I won't be able to update as often as when I started this fic, but my chapters are at least longer than the first ones at the old version. I'll try my best.^_^


End file.
